In its early years, difficulties arose relating to policy decisions and clarity of purpose, but by 2011 it had grown to represent almost all of Ireland's voluntary genealogical bodies.
[2] Through its lobbying, led by Executive Liaison Officer (South) Steven Smyrl,[3] since December 2005 Irish death registrations now note each deceased person's date and place of birth and both parents' names.
Through its work CIGO was successful in getting provision for general release of census records in Ireland after only 70 years included in an early amendment during the Bill stages of the Statistics Act 1993.
[6] In 2011, with a change of government in Ireland, the new Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, recognised CIGO's call to open the 1926 census and went on to promote the value such a move would have to genealogy and roots tourism.
However, the move eventually became embroiled in interdepartmental “civil service trench warfare” and the campaign stalled, though not without first having brought the issue to public awareness.